This report draws on the main papers, discussions and recommendations of the African Regional Seminar on Enhancing Resource Allocation to Cities to Strengthen their Role as Engines of Economic Growth and Development – convened by the Urban Economy and Finance Branch of UN-HABITAT and held in Nairobi on 2-3 November 2005.

The report sheds light on the required measures to enhance resource allocation for accelerating urban development in Africa.

In this paper, John Friedmann critically examines the assumption that exports and external investments are the driving forces of growth in cities of developing countries. Instead, he proposes endogenous development, or a greater reliance on local assets and accumulation of local savings, complemented by international aid and private investments, as an alternative strategy to drive the sustainable development of cities.

He further elaborates the notion of endogenous development in relation to seven types of tangible assets (human, social, cultural, intellectual, natural, environmental, and urban assets) which cities should invest in and draw upon to foster sustainable development. In turn, such investment is likely to generate external investments in the long term.

An expert group meeting was convened to discuss case studies of regulatory inform of the urban informal sector in six developing country cities. This report

(i) reviews regulatory factors constraining the development and operation of urban informal sector enterprises.

(ii) examines innovative experiences regulatory reform in cities of three developing countries with large urban informal sectors.

(iii) identifies successful policies and develop policy guidelines for streamlining municipal regulation of the sector with a view to enhancing the income of the urban poor.

Vivimos en una gran transformación a nivel global; una mutación antropológica y por lo tanto cultural, basada en la incorporación masiva de las tecnologías informáticas, en la descentralización productiva y la creación de la empresa en red, así no lo indican; dicho proceso viene acompañado de una reestructuración de los principales mercados de la sociedad: el del trabajo, que en forma acelerada marcha hacia la flexibilización y, hasta el momento, la precarización de la existencia de millones de personas; y el financiero y el de capitales, que han establecido un desorden global controlado por un grupo de empresas multinacionales que operan como si se tratara de un “congreso virtual” con muy poco control y regulación, conducido por poderes con exigua legitimidad democrática, formado por los inversores y prestamistas que deciden efectivamente la política social y económica mediante la fuga de capitales, los ataques a la tasa de cambio, y demás procedimientos proporcionados por la estructura económica global.

This publication is the abridged and Arabic language edition of Financing Urban Shelter: Global Report on Human Settlements 2005.

Financing Urban Shelter presents the first global assessment of housing finance systems, placing shelter and urban development challenges within the overall context of macroeconomic policies. The report describes and analyses housing finance conditions and trends in all regions of the world, including formal housing finance mechanisms, microfinance and community funding, highlighting their relevance to the upgrading of slums. Recent policy developments in the area of shelter finance are discussed at the international and national levels. The report also examines policy directions that could be taken to strengthen shelter finance systems, particularly with respect to realizing the Millennium Declaration target of improving the lives of slum dwellers.

This publication is a abridged edition of Financing Urban Shelter: Gobal Report on Human Settlements 2005 (the main report).

The Local Economic Development (LED) series is a resource for local governments, businesses and civil society organizations to help them initiate and implement local economic development interventions through a strategic planning process.

The most fundamental challenges of cities-big and small-are linked to their capacity to generate wealth and economic opportunities. The economic vibrancy and resilience of cities largely determine their ability to deal with a host of other development issues including fighting poverty and absorbing population influx. What ever is the context and triggering point, the case for local economic development is strong. The question is how to do it.

The Local Economic Development (LED) series is a resource for local governments, businesses and civil society organizations to help them initiate and implement local economic development interventions through a strategic planning process.

The Local Economic Development (LED) series is a resource for local governments, businesses and civil society organizations to help them initiate and implement local economic development interventions through a strategic planning process.